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Turning point for RU men’s soccer came in early October

Bryant Knibbs has played in 70 games in his Rutgers career, tallying 18 points and five goals, including three this fall. (Photo by Ramon Dompor/Rutgers Athletics)

Bryant Knibbs can pinpoint exactly when the Rutgers men’s soccer team turned around its season. It was when the calendar flipped to October, following a 2-0 setback at Marquette that dropped the Scarlet Knights mark to 4-4-1.

Knibbs, a senior midfielder who had endured a 19-30-3 record through his first three seasons, didn’t want to end his career on a losing note.

So he was among a handful of seniors who called a players-only meeting, at which the upperclassmen, Knibbs recalled, talked about the past in an effort to improve the future.

“We just got together because we were in that situation last year, and we ended up going on an eight-game losing streak,” Knibbs said. “It was at the same point, so we decided to sit each other down again and really get into all the young guys’ heads that we don’t want to go on the same kind of streak. They actually really bought into what the upperclassmen said.

“And then we turned it around. We went seven games upbeaten. We got a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament and we got to where we are now.”

In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, that is.

“After that meeting, it really motivated us to work defensively because that’s where we thought we were struggling a little bit,” said Knibbs, who will try to advance the Scarlet Knights (10-6-3) to their first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance since 2001 in a 1 p.m. tilt with Boston College on Sunday, 1 p.m., in Chestnut Hill, Mass. “(The meeting) had to happen. We had to get the new kids bought in and they did. And it helped us out greatly.”

Count J.P. Correa among the freshmen who responded to the message.

An All-Big East Rookie Team member this season, Juan Pablo Correa has tallied a team-best six goals in 18 games. (Photo by Tom Ciszek/Rutgers Athletics)

“Ever since that meeting,” Correa said, “every time we showed up to a game it felt completely different. We had a swagger. Everything was different.”

The 2010 Daily Record Player of the Year, Correa was among the Big East’s top newcomers this fall, earning a spot on the conference’s all-rookie team after drilling a team-best five goals and five assists during the regular season. In a 4-2 win over Colgate to open the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, Correa hit the back of the net once to help send the Scarlet Knights to the second round for the first time in eight years.

“This whole season has been great,” Correa said. “I came in and got a starting spot right away. I’ve been playing mostly the whole game. It feels great to be out here. Everything I expected and little more.”

Heavily recruited after earning All-Conference honors in his final three seasons starting for Montville High, Correa originally committed to Big East-rival Villanova before de-committing in favor of Rutgers. His reason for doing so was simple:

“Once I met these coaches, I automatically knew that this was the place for me,” said Correa, who also was recruited by St. John’s, Clemson, Boston University, West Virginia, among others. “We have everything we need here at Rutgers, and it also happened to be 40 minutes from my house. But I had trust in coach that we would be able to turn this program around, which in one year we pretty much did.”

That coach is Dan Donigan, whose team this fall enjoyed the best one-year turnaround since the Big East moved to its current 16-team format in 2005.

“That (turnaround) is what a lot of people are talking about, but I think it says a lot about the players who have been in the program,” Donigan said. “From Day 1 that we’ve been here we’ve put them through a lot in and out of season. I can’t say enough about the players, the seniors and certainly the newcomers who entered the program like Kene Eze and J.P., Nate Brucaleri, Joe Setchel. Certainly getting results helps that. When you get a reward, it’s satisfying and it’s easy to continue the hard work.

“I told them when I came here I wanted them to be a part of taking this program back to national prominence. No, we’re not there yet but we’re certainly on our way. I’m indebted to these guys for that.”

For Correa, that feeling is mutual.

“It’s definitely special being a part of this (turnaround) but I definitely can’t take credit for it,” Correa said. “It comes from everyone on the field to all the coaches. It’s been a team-effort.”

About Keith Sargeant

Keith Sargeant is a graduate of Middlesex County College and Kean University. A Home News Tribune staff writer since August 1997, Keith has been covering Rutgers sports since 2000, serving as the Scarlet Knights' football beat writer since 2006.

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